From the founding of Jamestown to the time of Washington and Jefferson, every plantation owner made cider, drank cider, and bragged about his cider.
BEIERSCHMITT originated in Fairbanks, Fayette County, Iowa, by J.A. Beierschmitt, and was introduced in 1927. It is considered to be a seedling of Bartlett. The seed planted by Marie Beierschmitt, mother of J.A. Beierschmitt, about 1900 bore its first fruit about 1908 to 1910. The original tree died when it was about 15 years old, but many suckers had been transplanted from it. This variety was first called to the attention of S.A. Beach (Apples of New York author) in 1921. The fruit is medium to large, broader than Bartlett but without as much neck, with a skin thin and tender, greenish-yellow to clear pale yellow when ripened, with slight russet. The fruit is firm, tender, very juicy, highly aromatic, and of high quality. The flesh is fairly fine, juicy, buttery, and quite free of grit. This pear has a mild, pleasing flavor and rates rather high in dessert quality. The skin is too tender to withstand commercial handling. It keeps somewhat longer than Bartlett. The tree is fairly vigorous, spreading or willowy in habit, productive, with some resistance to fire blight.